Brian J. McCarthy - Luminous Interiors: The Houses of Brian J. McCarthy

reinventing the electric toothbrush quickly lost its appeal. I became fascinated instead with developing ways of life of creating original worlds people could inhabit gracefully, in sync with their personalities and needs, and, not least, with style. Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, which I loved the moment I arrived for my admissions interview, proved to be the perfect environment. When I started, I had the idea that I might want to be an industrial designer. But your foundation year at Pratt is structured to offer a comprehensive introduction to all of the institutions departments, and once I saw what the interior design classes were all about, the prospect of reinventing the electric toothbrush quickly lost its appeal. I became fascinated instead with developing ways of life of creating original worlds people could inhabit gracefully, in sync with their personalities and needs, and, not least, with style.

I loved the work and, applying myself, started to be good at it. But it wasnt until the second half of my junior year that I began defining my own perspective, in a manner that differentiated my approach from those of the other students. At the time, enthusiasm for postmodernism was at its peak; I drew on the movementits embrace of difference, its lack of certainty about what does and does not constitute good designbut wanted to take it further by introducing a measure of eclecticism into the postmodern vocabulary: eighteenth- and nineteenth-century elements that resonated in a contemporary decorative environment without extracting light-spiritedness or comfort. By my senior year I was, by the standards of the day, a true subversive: visiting antique shops and galleries in Manhattan, and getting to know the dealers, who opened my eyes to new realms of possibility.

Upon graduation in 1983, I was lucky enough to land a job at Parish-Hadley Associates, one of the most influential interior design firms of its time, founded by two legendary principalsSister Parish and Albert Hadleywho came out of entirely different traditions that each made very much their own. Sisters style belonged to patrician England, to which she added an American twist, bringing things like patchwork quilts into classical interiors and leavening their formality with a welcome whimsy. Albert, conversely, was a modernist whose antecedents were Jean-Michel Frank, Van Day Truex, and, later, Billy Baldwin; he was a patient, thoughtful listener whose designs were at once shot through with excitement and entirely, blissfully livable. Whether working separately or together, Sister and Albert captured the eclecticism I so appreciated. They were never rigid in their handling of materials or styles, but rather mixed the things they loved surprisingly and without the slightest hint of the academys chill.

I was fortunate, too, to have gone to work when I did, as the interior design world was very different back then than it is today. There were fewer firmsthe ones that existed mostly had long, colorful historiesand the business itself was quieter: less aggressive, more genteel. The nature of the clientele, too, at least at Parish-

Hadley, was different. Those who knocked on Sister and Alberts door came from families that had worked with decorators, often the same ones, for generations; as people who understood that interior design is a craft, our clients back then tended to be less overtly demanding, and more attuned to the idea of a creative process that involved trial and error, give and take. Dont misunderstand me: the individuals I collaborate with today (as youll discover in the pages to come) are exceptionally generous in their trust, and involve themselves in the work with energy and imagination. But times have changed, and in the high-pressure, big-money environment of the present day, people sometimes treat decorators as service providers and nothing more. I was fortunate to come up at a time when clients allowed us to find our way to the richness and subtlety that elevates an interior from the well-done to the magical. I was fortunate, too, to have gone to work when I did, as the interior design world was very different back then than it is today. There were fewer firmsthe ones that existed mostly had long, colorful historiesand the business itself was quieter: less aggressive, more genteel. The nature of the clientele, too, at least at Parish- Hadley, was different. Those who knocked on Sister and Alberts door came from families that had worked with decorators, often the same ones, for generations; as people who understood that interior design is a craft, our clients back then tended to be less overtly demanding, and more attuned to the idea of a creative process that involved trial and error, give and take. Dont misunderstand me: the individuals I collaborate with today (as youll discover in the pages to come) are exceptionally generous in their trust, and involve themselves in the work with energy and imagination. But times have changed, and in the high-pressure, big-money environment of the present day, people sometimes treat decorators as service providers and nothing more. I was fortunate to come up at a time when clients allowed us to find our way to the richness and subtlety that elevates an interior from the well-done to the magical.